1. Onsen trip

Today was tons of fun. I think I'm just going to e-mail my hot spring
stories. Quite a number of my readers are male. I don't think they
should be thinking about me in a hot spring... =)

I went to Oedo Onsen Monogatari, a hot spring complex in Odaiba,
Tokyo. I took advantage of the significant discount they offer to
people who come after six o' clock. Also remembered to be out before
four hours elapsed so that I didn't have to pay the surcharge. =)

I had fun choosing a yukata (light cotton kimono, slightly
longer than the usual kimono-style bathrobes). I was tempted by the
other designs, but I couldn't help chose the one with the woman
reading a book. Well, they suggested choosing one that
reflects your personality...

Kathy, can I post pictures on your pbase account? If I
don't have to worry about resizing the images, I think I'll be a lot
more diligent about posting pics. I'll even add captions. =)

(Naturally, there won't be any pictures from _in_ the baths, so you
guys can stop hoping.)

I went back to my locker several times to get my camera and a 100-yen
coin for the locker. I took a few pictures of people trying out
shuriken and yumi in the amusement booths. I asked an attendant to
take a picture of me, too. I wanted to try the shuriken, but I decided
to prioritize actually going into the hot spring.

<snip onsen story>

At around 9, I decided to get on my way. On the way out, I swung by
the shuriken booth again, but decided to pass because of the long
line. I couldn't resist the candy booth, though. Beautiful custom-made
candy! I asked the guy to make a cat for me. =)

I was thinking of using the same bus line back, as I had an open
ticket that allowed me free passage on any Toei bus. However, the last
bus had already left. Guidebooks strongly recommended the Tokyo
Monorail station, though, so I didn't mind the inconvenience, and was
looking forward to the view from Rainbow Bridge.

While I was fishing out 400 yen for the ticket, an old couple
approached me and handed me their open tickets for the monorail. Whee!
Nice people. I remembered to thank them profusely in Japanese, too.
With that, I had no problems taking the monorail to Shinbashi station.
I passed the favor on by giving the ticket I used to a woman at the
ticket-buying machine. =)

Then I rushed over to the JR rail so that I could catch the train to
Yokohama. I went to the right platform, but the train I wanted had no
more runs that night, so I had to take my second-choice train. The
switch cost me a bit of time, and I started worrying about whether I'd
make it back to YKC before curfew.

I took the Negishi train all the way to Shinsugita, then ran through
the station to the Seaside Line connection. I got really rattled when
the ticket vending machine wouldn't let me buy a 280 yen ticket. The
station attendant explained that the train would stop at Namiki-chuo,
two stations before Sangyou-shinko Center. Waah! They suggested
calling a taxi from Namiki-chuo. I asked how long walking would take,
and they said around 30 minutes.

I got off at Namiki-chuo and surveyed the landscape. Not a taxi in
sight. Well, no time to lose. I'd kept track of the direction the
train was going, and I started running along a parallel street. Then I
realized I'd run out of breath rather quickly that way, so I slowed to
a very brisk walk. It was rather scary, as I wasn't quite sure where I
was, and no one else was around. (Meep.)

I perked up immensely when I saw Jusco. I knew I'd managed to get to
Jusco and back without a map, so I felt confident about being able to
make my way back to YKC. The route was well-lit, too. I wasn't sure if
I'd make it to the 12 o' clock curfew, though, so I hurried.

I found my way back to YKC without any problems. When I got there,
though, the gate was already closed. I was thinking of scaling the
gate. It was low and would've been easy. Good thing I checked the
pedestrian gate, though, as it was unlocked.

The automatic doors were closed already. Remembering Bang-san's story
about waking up one of the residents for help, I went over to the west
wing. Thanks to Tita Naty for teaching me how to project my voice, and
to Mrs. Castillo for putting drama into our grade school education. =)
One never knows when stuff like that would be useful.

I quickly got a response. Bang-san stuck his head out the window and
laughed to see me there. He told me to go to the side entrance. He
also woke up the AOTS staff member responsible for watching out for us
pumpkins, and I got into AOTS. Whew.

That'll teach me to look at timetables much more carefully. Sure, the
Shinsugita train left at the promised time, but it didn't go all the
way to my station... Mrf.

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Page: 2004.09.19

Updated: 2004-11-2106:44:1406:44:14-0500

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